Personality Assessments: Should they talk us into or out of hiring a new employee?

March 28, 2017

If you use a personality assessment as one your tools in a hiring process, you are part of 22% of companies that currently do the same according to a survey done by the Society for Human Management.

There are dozens of different personality assessments available, from generic (Gallup Strength Finder or Myers-Briggs) to those that can be specifically designed to fit your unique culture. No matter which personality assessment you are currently using, the important question to ask is: Should they talk us into hiring a new employee or the opposite? In the world of HR professionals, the opinions on personality assessments vary from not effective to very effective tool in the hiring process. There are several things to keep in mind when using personality assessments:

Are you using the right type of a personality assessment for your specific culture?

Have you taken this assessment yourself to experience it first hand?

Have you explained the purpose of the assessment to the candidate?

Do you know what kind of outcome you desire from the assessment?

If you decide to integrate a personality assessment into your hiring process, you should always keep open mind. There are some assessment outcomes that might be straight forward to confirm or deny the suitability of a potential candidate, however, it is more likely that the results will not lean one specific way. Compare your notes from your phone and/or in-person interview together with the assessment to make your final decision.